Night Starts

Sep 27, 2007 at 14:05 o\clock

by: Diddums Category: BlogFriday Keywords: writing, exercises, Starting, prompts, cats, sleeping, interruptions

Mood: Still slightly drowsy
Listening to: Ghost song in my head: 'I Won't Let You Down' by Ph.D

Soon it will be time to start editing again, but while I'm waiting...

I came across a challenge to write a blog post with the word 'start' as a theme. I was busy editing till past midnight so couldn't do anything about it, but when I crawled into bed I started to wonder what I could write if I got a spare moment.

I spoke out loud into the darkness. "Let's see, it could be about Fresh Start, Fire Start, Blog Start, procrastination (all procrastinators know where 'start' comes into that), Start of Fear..."

Suddenly Sharky ran up the bed and butted me.

"What, was I disturbing your sleep? Sorry."

Sharky purred and curled up in the crook of my neck. Cats like being spoken or sung to - within in reason. They curl up on your chest or throat and enjoy the speech vibrations. But sometimes they get annoyed if they think you're a bad singer or should shut up now, and put a paw firmly on your mouth.

"Don't start nibbling my chin," I said - "it brings me out in spots."
Sharky purred, staring into my face, then licked my chin. Maybe I should start him on an English Language course.

After a while he lay down at my side, and I started to fall asleep. Every so often he dug his hind paws into my ribs and I would start awake then have to start asleep all over again. And again. And again.

I was exhausted after the editing I had done all day, so I started up and felt for Sharky's recumbent form. There he was, fully stretched out on his flank with his front legs above his head and his hind legs stretched out behind him, toes pointed like a ballerina's. He took up half the length of the bed and it didn't seem fair. I slid him further down so that he couldn't nudge me with his feet any more.

Sharky got in an awful rage and started up. He leapt violently off the bed (making sure I felt it) and stamped off to find somewhere else to sleep. "I know when I'm not wanted," he seemed to snarl. After a moment of annoyance I was relieved, and finally started off to sleep for the last time.

Somewhat weak, but this is my 'start' post for BlogFriday.

BlogFriday is the brainchild of Jonathan Beckett, whose Life and Times blog I've been reading for some while. One of the things that drew me in was the occasional description of what it's like to travel by tube in London. I'm so far away from that kind of lifestyle - I wouldn't do well if I had to catch the train every day in that kind of crush and scurry. Any frequent reader of this blog knows I can't stand crowded places, and why. It doesn't mean I can't read a blog about such a life, and marvel - it's like reading about an entire city scaling the heights of Everest or slogging through the frozen Arctic wastes - doing something grim and tough while accepting it as everyday life.

Well that's how it looks to me - perhaps big city life is acceptable, interesting and even desirable till you've had a blinding flash of realization that you've had enough. It's bad enough finding that you've 'had enough' in a small but busy town.

But this is not my 'enough' post - unless Jonathan uses 'enough' as his next word of inspiration, in which case I can put this one in again - heh heh.

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Comments for this entry:

quoteKarin wrote at Sep 27, 2007 at 15:40 o\clock:I found your blog through BlogFriday in case you're wondering who is this strange woman (my post was "a new fire..."). I too work from my home in the states though. I've done the commute thing and would probably fight tooth & nail to avoid it again.

Tomorrow I have made plans for a night out in the big city (okay, medium sized city of Washington DC) and I must admit, I'm doing it only because my husband will like it. Frankly, big cities kind of scare me. I'd rather live in the middle of nowhere on a sheep farm than in a city.

Enjoy the afternoon with Shark and take care.
quoteJonathan wrote at Sep 27, 2007 at 15:47 o\clock:Thanks for bigging up BlogFriday :)

I really have no idea how I "cope" with the commute. I feel a blog post should perhaps be written about it - let you all know how I'm really doing.

"Brainchild".. that's a good word. Not used enough.
quoteGeosomin wrote at Sep 27, 2007 at 19:36 o\clock:ONe of the reasons I like to run so much is that it's just me all alone on a wooded path.
The commute on the bus, even in a small city like mine can get to you sometimes. I lived in Vancouver for a while and couldn't stand it.
Crowds on holidays are all exciting and something I can put up with, but every day? Bleargh.
quotedrifting wrote at Sep 27, 2007 at 22:48 o\clock:I've done the commute thing in trains and I found it both annoying and amusing. I distanced myself, viewing us all as sheep. It used to amuse me following the crowds who traipsed from the railway station to the offices, thinking to myself that we're all rather pathetic - this was our life - slaves to clocks and rules, so we have a roof over our heads and something to eat. The train was preferable though to driving. I cannot stand traffic jams - it got me so stressed and angry which is good for no-one. I certainly don't want to go back to all that. Now my work is a 15 minute drive away on a quiet countryside road - brilliant.
quoteDiddums wrote at Sep 28, 2007 at 03:41 o\clock:Hi Karin, thanks for popping round and commenting! I hope you survive your night out in the city and even enjoy it. Sometimes things work out quite well (or so I find in the small town) - you get the ideal parking spot and table, there's no queue at just the moment you arrive, etc. Not always, but sometimes.

Jonathan, that sounds like a good idea for a blog post - I wonder how anyone survives commuting. :-). I think we did go in those London trains about twice (we were going to the airport) and it wasn't an experience I was in a hurry to repeat.

Geo and Drifting - it's true that holiday crowds can have a different vibe to them, though there was one holiday crowd in town that troubled me deeply - I think they'd reached the stage where they were hanging around their cars thinking "I wish we were home already." My sentiments exactly... I don't know if I ever got to the stage of viewing the others in a detached way, which might have been a good thing if I could have done it. In my mind's eye I was always the bug about to be stepped on...
quoteKarin wrote at Oct 1, 2007 at 05:08 o\clock:I did indeed survive the city. Our resturant had lost our reservation but found a table for us anyways. Our hotel gave us chocolate covered strawberries in addition to the sparkling wine we were already supposed to get (at no extra charge) and we had no problem with crowds at the International Spy Museum.

I did make up for the city by going apple picking today & feeding the farm's goats.

Thanks for the good wishes, they seem to have paid off.

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